Tag: State of the Union

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U.S. Not as Safe as President Claims

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, speaking to the National Press Club  on January 13, delivered a fact-filled rebuke  to President Obama’s State of the Union comments that the U.S. has become safer and stronger. We have excerpted his key points:

Too many of us tend to assume that it is the Executive’s job to decide what we need to defend the country, and then send the bill to Congress, expecting us to salute and write the check. That is not what Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution says. It says that it is Congress’s duty to “raise and support, provide and maintain, make rules for the government and regulation of” the military forces of the United States. …

Some of the calls we have made in the last few years in disagreeing with the Administration’s requests, such as retaining an aircraft carrier, keeping the A-10, keeping both the U-2 and Global Hawk when we have a severe ISR shortage, look pretty good in hindsight.

Today, we have to make those judgment calls within limited budgets and in the most complex, difficult national security environment our nation has ever faced. Just think for a moment about the last two weeks or so: Escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have brought the Mideast closer to open sectarian conflict than it has been in many years; North Korea tests another nuclear device as it continues to develop more advanced missiles and seems less concerned about world opinion than ever; Reports indicate Russia took down the power grid in parts of Ukraine over the holidays; A British film crew came back from Raqqa with evidence that ISIS is vigorously pursuing chemical weapons, heatseeking missiles that can shoot down aircraft, and remote-controlled vehicles; More evidence is made public of ISIS operatives already inside the United States and Europe working to carry out further attacks; And, China lands aircraft on islands it has constructed in South China Sea.

Not to mention Iran shooting missiles at U.S. ships and yesterday detaining 10 American sailors and their boats. If we look back just a few weeks more, we read about a Russian nuclear torpedo able to devastate coastal areas. And Iranian hackers infiltrating the control system of a small dam less than 20 miles from New York City, while it was also attacking the websites of U.S. banks. And about the FBI stopping four attempts in the past five years by Russian gangs to sell radioactive material to “Middle Eastern extremists.”

Who knows what the next two weeks or two months of 2016 will hold? The world is more dangerous today than it was in 2009. Despite the President’s claim…that is reality. But, it is certainly unlikely that the Obama Administration will do anything in its last year to change that situation or to alter that trajectory…

No country is better positioned to continue being one of “history’s winners” than the U.S. But we cannot assume that it will be so; we have to make deliberate decisions to ensure that we are still able to be this unique force for good in the world. For Congress, that means deciding to provide the funding needed to defend the country, deciding what capability and authorities we need, and overseeing the activities of the Executive Branch.

BUDGET ISSUES

The Obama administration argues that a ship today is more capable than one twenty years ago. Generally, that is true, but a ship can still only be at one place at a time, and we need enough of them to protect against the threats all around the world. We do not have enough of them today. Building a strong military requires money. Last fall’s budget agreement does not provide enough money for defense, but I agreed with those who believed that it was better to accept less than is required in order to be assured that the funds will be there.

After the budget brinkmanship of the Obama years, budget stability, even for just two years, counts for a lot. So I am disturbed at rumors that the Administration may not keep to the agreement in its budget submission. The agreement was for FY ’17 that $573 billion would be available to meet base defense requirements and the OCO account would receive no less than $59 billion with the exact amount dependent on the world situation. That agreement was reached more than two weeks before the Paris attacks, and the pace of our military operations has only increased since then.

Rather than asking for more money to cover the higher operational costs, the Administration is looking at cutting the base funding to pay for those OCO needs. That cuts people, weapons, research. Guaranteeing a minimum level of defense spending was the key to getting last year’s budget agreement. The terms were clear to everyone; and everyone should stick to it. At the same time, our Committee will not relent in our continuing oversight of how that money is spent. Waste and inefficiency drain military strength and erode political support, so in addition to vigorous oversight, we put a high priority on reform, which I will discuss more in a moment. Of course, what we spend that money on is crucial, which brings me to capabilities. While ensuring that our service men and women have the best weapons and equipment for today’s operations, we also have to move rapidly to develop and field the capability they will need tomorrow. I am paying particular attention to the third offset efforts, cyber, modernizing our nuclear deterrent, and special operations forces.

The President said last night that “no nation dares to attack us or our allies because they know that’s the path to ruin.” And that has been true for a long time. Unfortunately, that is changing…

TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES

Deputy Secretary Work and Vice Chairman Selva are advancing a focused push, known as the Third Offset, to ensure that no state dares take on America in the future…no one should be under the illusion that a handful of technological breakthroughs, even if they come, can create the unchallenged position we have enjoyed in the past. Technology changes too quickly; information moves too fast; and the threats are too diverse. Bigger change is required.

cyber is a new domain of warfare, where technology development is not the most pressing need, but organizations, doctrine, and authorities are. The challenges here are not just for the military, but we have to have the ability to fight and win in cyberspace. The Committee will be pushing on issues related to people, organization, and how we fight in cyberspace to close the gap between the threats we face and the laws and policies we employ to deal with it.

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It may seem odd to include nuclear deterrent among the top capabilities that demand our attention for the future. But as we have seen over the past week, nuclear weapons and their delivery systems are spreading. Our own nuclear deterrent is the foundation of all of our other defense efforts. Unfortunately, our warheads and delivery systems have all been neglected and are aging out at about the same time. We have to put the resources, which studies show would never be more than 5% of the defense budget, and also the attention and willpower to ensuring that we will have an effective nuclear deterrent for today and tomorrow’s world, not yesterday’s.

SPECIAL FORCES

The world, including our enemies, has gotten a look at the enormous capability provided by our Special Operations Forces. I have no doubt that they will be even more crucial in the future. But, there is a temptation, as we have seen in other nations, to use SOF forces in just about all situations, and that can lead to losing some of their unique capability…

While the U.S. has always needed a military strong enough to protect us from the threats of the day, the current situation is unlike any other we have faced. For we must have the military capability to protect us from an enormous array of threats all at once, as well as for the unexpected.

PEOPLE

The most important component of our defense is our people. We can never relax our efforts to ensure that the nation’s security continues to have the benefit of the best and brightest our country can produce. Last year, we followed many of the recommendations of the Military Retirement and Modernization Commission, including instituting a new retirement system. This year, under the able leadership of Subcommittee Chairman/General/Doctor Joe Heck, we are focusing on health care. Year after year, the Administration has proposed raising Tricare fees and copays on service members. Simply taking more money out of their pockets is not reform.

AQUISITIONS

Last year, we made a good start on improving the way DOD acquires goods and services, focusing on the acquisition workforce, acquisition strategies for each program, and rebalancing the responsibilities between the Services and DOD. This year, we will build on those reforms… One goal I have is to encourage more experimentation and prototyping. Studying military innovations of the past leads to the clear conclusion that experimentation was the heart of those successes. It encourages innovative thinking not only to develop technology but in how it is used. It helps ensure there is mature technology before large scale production begins. It reduces the odds that large sums will be invested in a program that gets canceled…

ORGANIZATION

Another key area of reform is organizational. We have to ensure that our organizational structure inside the Pentagon and beyond fits today’s world…The first step in dealing with sluggish bureaucracy is simplification, but I acknowledge, we have a long way to go…The Defense Business Board says that about half of all uniformed personnel serve on staffs that spend most of their time going to meetings and responding to tasks from the hundreds of offices throughout the DOD, including the 17 independent agencies, 9 unified commands, 250 joint task forces. We have much more to do to de-layer and simplify……

INTELLIGENCE

Having served on the House Intelligence Committee for more than 10 years and continuing to sit in on its briefings, as well as the briefings our Committee receives, I have no doubt that just at the time we face more diverse terrorist and other kinds of threats than ever before, we know less about what are adversaries are planning — certainly less than we did at the beginning of the Obama Administration. Part of the reason is evolution of technology; part of the reason is leaks that tell the world what we do and how we do it; part of the reason is the restrictions we place on ourselves unnecessarily. For example, PPD-28 gives foreign intelligence targets essentially the same rights as American citizens, overriding instructions given to the IC by every President since Ronald Reagan. We are asking more of our intelligence professionals than ever before and yet they have to operate with one hand tied behind their backs. Our nation is more vulnerable as a result.

MICROMANAGEMENT

Finally, I mentioned earlier that it is unlikely for the Obama Administration to do anything over this coming year to significantly improve the perilous situation in which we find ourselves…The White House imposes rules of engagement upon our men and women fighting in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan that make it harder for them to succeed in their mission and, in some cases, actually increases the danger to their lives. In addition, there is an unprecedented degree of micromanagement from National Security Council staffers – not only of the top management in DOD, but even of 8 military service members in the field….

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NY Analysis

The REAL State of the Union

State of the Union addresses have become platforms for presidents to advocate their policies, rather than honest assessments of the actual condition of the nation.  This year’s edition was no exception, and it contained numerous factual errors. The New York Analysis of Policy & Government outlines some of those errors, and provides an example of what a truly honest and precise report would have contained. 

MISSTATEMENTS IN THE STATE OF THE UNION

The president said the only threat to the U.S. was from failed states. One supposes he forgot about Russia and China.

He said the Cold War was over. Apparently, Putin didn’t get the memo.

He talked about how he successfully responded to the invasion of the Ukraine. The Ukrainians would disagree.

He claimed America’s standing was higher than ever.  America’s allies would disagree.

He bragged about opening up relations with Cuba. Didn’t he realize that massove amounts of political prisoners were arrested after that opening, and Havana has invited the Russian Navy back in?

He touted our partnership with the world in dealing with Syria. Hasn’t he read the headlines–the partners he is talking about are Russia and Iran, and they are there only to expand their influence.

He used the analogy of beating the USSR to the moon, but he is the president who put America’s manned space program in hibernation.

He again claimed that there is no credible disagreement about his climate change views.  Apparently, he failed to read the letter sent by 31,000 scientists who do disagree.

He said his first priority was going after terrorists. Under his watch, terrorists have reached their greatest extent of power.

He said he begins every day with an intelligence briefing. Records reveal that he misses over half of all national security briefings.

He encouraged the American people to come together and put partisanship aside.  But he is the president who, far more than any of his predecessors, misused federal agencies for partisan purposes and spent more time criticizing the opposition party than any of his predecessors.

He spoke of creating jobs.  He ignored the fact that, for the most part, the only jobs created were low paid with no benefits.

WHAT AN HONEST STATE OF THE UNION WOULD HAVE SAID 

The state of the union this year is perilous. In matters both foreign and domestic, America faces an array of challenges unparalleled in our history.

The terrible Great Recession that began in 2007 was the result of horrible mistakes made by progressives in Washington. In a good-hearted attempt during the Carter Administration back in the 1970’s to provide more housing opportunities, we mandated that lending institutions provide loans to people who really couldn’t afford them. President Clinton made that program even larger. Of course, it was inevitable that the effort would lead to disaster, and it did. The problem is, Washington still hasn’t learned its lesson, and it continues to engage in efforts that inadvertently harm the economy and destroy job growth.

America’s corporate taxes, highest among any of our trading partners, drive jobs right out of the nation, as do our increasingly rigorous regulations. The Affordable Care Act encourages employers to keep their workforce small and to hire only part-timers.  The effect of all this on the middle class has been devastating. We need to do better next year. President Clinton’s tilt towards China in opening up world trade to them ravaged manufacturing employment in the U.S., virtually eliminating the type of employment that actually created the middle class.

Middle income workers aren’t the only ones who have suffered. Due to our lack of border control, the nation has been flooded with illegal immigrants who have taken jobs at the extreme lower end of the pay scale, displacing American workers.  The unemployment rate of inner city youth, especially those of color, have is particularly worrisome.

Our seniors have been deprived of cost of living increases a record amount of time during the past seven years, and again this year they will not receive even a penny in cost of living increases in the Social Security benefits that they themselves paid for during their working lives. Instead of paying them what they truly deserve, Washington, during the past seven years, has increased the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by an extraordinary 41%.  It is morally wrong to deprive seniors who have worked all their lives and paid taxes in order to provide more benefits to younger, healthier individuals, some of whom are not even U.S. citizens.

Abroad, America faces dangers that result from an irrational belief that if we pretended foreign threats didn’t exist, they would just go away.  We slashed our defense budget, withdrew troops and equipment from key posts across the planet, and distanced ourselves from our friends and allies, endangering our security and theirs.

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We ignored, except for a few symbolic gestures, China’s aggression and its’ rise to become the most feared power in Asia.

At a time when dangerous and erratic regimes, such as those in North Korea and Iran, are rushing to build intercontinental ballistic missiles, we have failed to move ahead on a reasonable basis with anti-missile defenses.

Almost all of our actions during the past seven years have served to strengthen terrorist forces. We prematurely withdrew our military from Iraq, allowing ISIS to come to power. We encouraged the overthrow of established Arab governments, allowing extremists to gain greater influence.  We announced a withdrawal date for most of our forces from Afghanistan, which means the Taliban will return to power. We did nothing, absolutely nothing, to save our ambassador and his staff in Benghazi, and also did nothing to retaliate for that vicious act. We have ignored the growing presence of terrorist forces, including ISIS and Hezbollah, in Latin America.

Since the end of the terrible era of segregation in the 1960’s, race relations in our country had steadily improved. Unfortunately, that progress was slowed or even reversed during the past seven years, a result of the politicization of several incidents involving confrontations between police officers and blacks.  In some cases, media and Executive Branch responses to an entire incident, such as that in Ferguson which led to a significant civil disorder, were based on wholly incorrect facts.

Despite the many differences we Americans have had among ourselves over the centuries, we have been held together by our Constitution. However, during the past seven years, we have seen repeated affronts to Constitutional provisions such as the separation of powers, particularly in the proclivity of the President to ignore Congress’s role in enacting legislative-like measures as well as in the negotiation of foreign treaties. We have also seen far too many instances in which the First, Second, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments, literally half of the entire Bill of Rights, have been ignored.

The misuse of federal agencies, particularly the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice, for partisan political purposes, is unforgivable.  We must assure that it never happens again by punishing those who authorized those actions.  So, too, must be reinforce the time-honored practice of everyone, especially those in positions of great power, being equal in the eyes of the law and being subjected to appropriate penalties when they abuse their positions

Despite all these challenges, there is, indeed, good news.  It lies within the power of the American people to correct the mistakes that have been made.

We can rebuild our armed forces, which will not only restore our national security but also put many Americans back to work in well-paying jobs manufacturing needed equipment.  Our renewed strength can be used in combination with diplomacy to repair our frayed relations with allies across the globe, assuring them of our willingness to live up to our commitments, and to dissuade our adversaries from engaging in aggression.

Our reinvigorated military will be able to respond forcefully and thoroughly to any terrorist attack on American soil by striking without limit or hesitation in the homelands of those who plot against the safety of our nation.

We can take meaningful steps to develop a growing economy that produces middle income jobs by lowering corporate taxes and regulations, and by reversing bad international trade decisions that have encouraged the migration of companies away from our shores.

We can secure our borders through common-sense measures. A guest worker program can insure that we will still allow the people of our neighboring nations access to our economy, but only in positions which have first been offered to Americans.

Government spending, particularly on social programs, can be directed away from efforts meant solely to win votes and towards those who truly deserve either a helping hand or to reap the benefits they earned through decades of work and paying into social security.

The State of our Union is challenged, but hopeful.

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Obama’s unjustified optimism

A realistic assessment of international dangers facing the United States and its allies was completely missing from the President’s State of the Union Address.

Unfortunately for Mr. Obama, a number of serious incidents this week splashed icy cold water on his assessment that the world had turned a corner on issues such as terrorism and global relations.  Consider just a few specific items that apparently the Commander-in-Chief wasn’t briefed on or didn’t care to discuss:

  • As talks with Cuba prepared to commence, a Russian spy ship docked in that island nation, another entry into the growing Russian, Chinese, and Iranian military presence in Latin America.
  • In Argentina, a prosecutor who is reviewing Iranian involvement in a past terrorist attack was found dead just before he could testify.
  • In the African nation of Namibia, discussions are underway to develop a Chinese naval base in the Walvis Bay area.
  • In Yemen, often cited by the White House as a Middle Eastern success story, militant Shiites invaded the Presidential palace.
  • The Russians have developed new and more potent missiles, part of a massive military buildup that in some areas violates past arms accords.
  • China continues its own extraordinary military buildup, continuing at a pace faster than either the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. did at the height of the Cold War.
  • Terrorists control more geography than ever in the Middle East, and are poised to make gains in Afghanistan as well.
  • North Korea and Iran continue on with their nuclear and missile development programs as well.
  • All of this occurs as the United States and its allies continue to underfund their own militaries. With clearly no threat from the west, what justification can Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea provide for their vast weapons programs and aggressive tactics?

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It is increasingly difficult to understand Mr. Obama’s foreign policy views.

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The Real State of the Union

The President will deliver the 2015 State of the Union Address this evening.

The event is, of course, more an exercise in public relations and politics than an actual analysis of the nation’s true condition.  This year, an authentic look at America’s condition would be painful. Here’s what a candid assessment would disclose:

THE ECONOMY

The United States continues to spend more in imports than it earns from exports.  This is unsustainable.  A deficit of over $39 billion was reported in the last month for which statistics have been reported. Even this troubling statistic was a marginal improvement, but it is due almost entirely to the greater availability of domestically produced energy. This minor upswing will not last if the White House’s proposed EPA regulations take effect.

The U.S.’s continued maintenance of the highest corporate tax rate among America’s key trading partners does not bode well for future gains. According to the Congressional Research Service,  “China displaced the United States as the largest manufacturing country in 2010, as the United States’ share of global manufacturing activity declined from 30% in 2002 to 17.4% in 2012.”

Despite what at first glance appears to be an improved employment figure, the reality is that America still faces significant job market challenges.  Many have stopped looking for work out of frustration, or have exhausted benefits, and are not counted in the unemployment statistics. Further, well-paying jobs have been replaced by lower-paying positions. Approximately one-third of those unemployed are in the long-term unemployed category, a worrisome trend.  The labor participation rate is the worst it has been in over three decades.

The American middle class continues to be hard hit by rising prices and lower wages. Extraordinary spending since the 1960’s on anti-poverty programs—to the tune of $22 trillion– have not lifted the poor out of poverty, but have detrimentally impacted the middle class through both taxes and reduced funds left in the private sector for job creation.

The national debt has doubled during the current administration, with no noticeable gain in employment, infrastructure, or national security. The crisis continues to worsen as annual deficits continue at unsustainable levels ($483 billion in FY 2014.)

NATIONAL SECURITY

America faces the greatest military threat since the middle of the Second World War. Unlike the Cold War, when China was tacitly aligned with the U.S., Russia, China, and Iran form an unofficial axis against the U.S.

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Both Russia and China have made massive improvements to their conventional military power, as well.

Uniquely, America faces a significant threat within the western Hemisphere, as China, Russia and Iran continue to make significant inroads in military relations with a number of Latin American nations.

Terrorism continues to be a significant and growing threat.  Islamic extremists control more territory than ever in the Middle East, and present a growing threat in Africa.  The planned withdrawal of U.S. combat forces in Afghanistan may signal the return of the Taliban in that nation.

Facing these threats is an American military significantly weakened by budget cuts, the laying off of experienced personnel, and aging weapons and equipment.

DOMESTIC RELATIONS

Unexpectedly, America, despite the election of the first black president, has experienced deterioration in race relations during the past several years.  The division between left and right has widened as well.

Free speech issues once thought fairly settled have become inflammatory, as the White House has attempted to broaden the powers of the Federal Communications Commission, surrender control of the internet to an international body containing pro-censorship members, and contradict Supreme Court decisions regarding campaign expenditures. The growth in anti-free speech regulations in academia has been explosive.

CONCLUSION

Clearly, the state of the union is troubling.  At home and abroad, the United States faces extraordinary challenges. Policies over the past several years have been guided more by ideological zeal than a candid response to reality.